Vol 51 No 1 | SOUTH AFRICA Global plaudits, local travails 8th January 2010 Despite the doubters, President Zuma’s government is set to hold a successful World Cup but will face demands for action on jobs and services In his New Year address, President Jacob Zuma likened 2010 to 1994, when South Africa became a democracy. To the outside world, the only big event happening in...
Vol 51 No 1 | SOUTH AFRICA Walking right, talking left 8th January 2010 The African National Congress’s loud debate over economic policy will continue in 2010. The Left demands a more interventionist stance than that of the then Finance Minister, Trevor...
Vol 51 No 1 | ZIMBABWE Three men in a boat 8th January 2010 Somehow the unlikely triumvirate sticks together – for fear of something worse – amid signs of a slowly recovering economy The uneasy coalition government will rumble on into 2010, making painful but discernible progress on economic reform. It is in none of the three main parties’ interest to...
Vol 51 No 1 | ZIMBABWE Elusive shoots of economic recovery 8th January 2010 The key issue for the power-sharing regime is reviving the economy. According to the 2010 budget, the government is aiming for 7% gross domestic product growth, underpinned by...
Vol 51 No 1 | ANGOLA Football, contracts and then votes 8th January 2010 The President would win an election but won’t hold one, while worrying about the neighbours and the African football cup At the congress of the governing Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) in December, President José Eduardo dos Santos once more postponed the general elections until 2012...
Vol 50 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA Ready or not, here they come 18th December 2009 President Zuma’s government is confident about the 2010 World Cup preparations, despite professional fouls in the organising committee Sepp Blatter, President of football’s ruling Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) looked relieved at the 11 December draw in Cape Town for next year’s World Cup. Standing...
Vol 50 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA Liberation economics, 20 years on 18th December 2009 In 2010, South Africans will celebrate the two decades since the release of Nelson Mandela from gaol on 11 February 1990. Polemicists of all stripes will assess the...
Vol 50 No 25 | ZAMBIA Prospering yet parlous 18th December 2009 The economy is looking up but scandals and regional tensions upset the governing party’s election hopes With copper revenue rising, poverty falling and farms thriving, the fortunes of President Rupiah Banda’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government should be on the up, with hopes...
Vol 50 No 25 | NAMIBIA SWAPO's victory challenged 18th December 2009 Nine opposition parties have launched a joint legal challenge to the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) election victory on 27-28 November. This may force a recount (AC...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 2 | ZIMBABWECHINABRIEFING All that glitters is mine 15th December 2009 The details of the US$8 billion China Sonangol/China International Fund are becoming more apparent as subsidiary deals are signed. On 7 December, Zimbabwe's Transport and Mining Ministries signed mining and construction...